Drinking coffee, tea might help you avoid the holiday bulge

For many of us, a piping hot cup of tea or coffee serves as an ultimate morning fix. If you happen to fall in the same category, here’s a bit of good news for you. Drinking your favourite cuppa might do a lot more good than just helping you overcome the early morning sleep inertia.

According to a study from the University of Illinois, consumption of caffeine can potentially control holiday weight gain and cholesterol levels by blunting the effects of a diet that’s high in sugars and fats.

The study was carried out on rats who were fed a relatively unhealthy diet for four weeks in a row, reports Fox News. The diet comprised 40-45 percent carbohydrates and just 15 percent protein. In conjugation to this, the rats were administered a tea containing phytochemicals, flavonoids, and amino acids.

The findings of this study suggest that the rats that were administered caffeine dropped a significant amount of body fat. The weight gain slowed down by 16% and the fat absorption went down by 22%.

Also read: Filter coffee lovers, rejoice! Drinking 3 cups of it may keep diabetes at bay

“The consumption of caffeine from (tea) or from other sources alleviated the negative impact of a high-fat, high-sucrose diet on body composition due to the modulation of certain lipogenic enzymes in both adipose tissue and the liver,” said Elvira Gonzalez de Mejia, who co-authored this study.

To further explore the efficacy of these caffeine-containing beverages in aiding weight loss and cholesterol control, these findings can be scaled according to the human model.

With inputs from ANI